How tradie became CEO of $1 billion Dicker Data company

Aussie David Dicker had a “blue collar” start to his career as an apprentice – but one “revolutionary” decision changed his life forever.

David Dicker didn’t stay a tradie for long. Picture: iStock

When David Dicker finished school, it was the “happiest day” of his young life.

His father was in the refrigeration mechanics business, so the teen – who had “hated” the education system – decided to get an apprenticeship and follow in his footsteps.

But he soon realised it wasn’t for him.

A brief stint in roof installation followed, but it wasn’t until he discovered a natural flair for computers and technology that his fortunes changed.

In 1978, when he was in his late 20s, Mr Dicker founded what would become Dicker Data, a distributor of computer hardware.

It was a radical move, given he was completely self-taught and that computers were still considered “revolutionary” at the time.

“I found computers interesting and I taught myself all I know … I’m self-taught with no qualifications,” he told news.com.au.

“It was an exciting and fun time – everything about computers was a mystery. They were hidden away in rooms and then suddenly people had computers at work on their desks, which was terrific.

“For the general public (computers and later the internet) was revolutionary.”

Mr Dicker said he knew computers were the way of the future and originally had a goal of selling 10 units per month.

But the company grew so “astronomically” that last month, the company was making $10 million a day on average.

“I knew it was going to get big, but even the growth of our share price once the company went public (in 2011) was shocking really – it’s a good company but at the beginning I didn’t expect it to go as well as it did,” he said.

David Dicker, pictured in the US circa 1979, is tipped to make the rich list again this year. Picture: Supplied

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Mr Dicker, who has been described as a “serial rich-lister”, said when it came to success in business, most people got it wrong.

“Most people think you need to have a monopoly, but I don’t agree – the best way is to structure to your advantage to allow you to be better than the other guy,” he said.

“I tried to do that in various ways and I still have that philosophy now – for example, in the 80s and early 90s I decided to hire an all-female workforce except me and a couple of guys in the warehouse. It was mostly mothers who returned to the workforce and were paid a good hourly rate. They set their own hours and if they needed to come in at 10am because they needed to do something with their kids, they could.

“If people like working for you, they perform better. We were doing more or less the same things as the other guys, and the only way you’re going to do better is to get someone to be better in their job.

“You’ve got to reach a mutually beneficial arrangement where everyone is happy and the only way to do that is with basic human decency.”

This week, the ASX-listed firm released its phenomenal half year results, with total revenue for the half year breaking through the $1 billion milestone.

Part of that incredible result was due to the recent surge in remote work, which caused a spike in demand for remote and virtual working solutions across the company’s hardware and software portfolios.

David Dicker is described as a “serial rich-lister”. Picture: Supplied

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He described that stellar result as “very satisfying”.

“I didn’t go into business with the idea of making a lot of money, I only got into the business more or less by accident,” he said.

“But once I was in, I took the ‘let’s do the best we can’ approach.

“All the way down the line I’ve tried to be successful and money is just a by-product of success. But it doesn't mean you don’t spend it.”

These days, a large part of Mr Dicker’s focus is his passion project as the founder of emerging hi-tech, high-performance car developer, Rodin Cars.